


What we are pt 2

by AXEe



Series: What we are [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-09-14
Packaged: 2018-08-11 02:16:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7871944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s an old saying about how things always look different in the cold light of day.  Waking up to find that your sister’s aunt (who you’ve just discovered is in love with you) spent the night on you couch definitely counts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dawning Light

**Author's Note:**

> Part two of What we are. WARNING THIS IS NOW A SERIES

There’s an old saying about how things always look different in the cold light of day. Waking up to find that your sister’s aunt (who you’ve just discovered is in love with you) spent the night on you couch definitely counts. Shuffling out to the kitchen in search of coffee the next morning I found Astra sitting—lounging really—on my couch watching CNN.

“Good morning” she said without looking up

“Morning” I yawned

“Oh, hey, Alex, you’re up” I jumped about twenty feet in the air as I spun around to see Kara walking over to the couch and happily plopping down next to Astra. For a second I just stared at the two of them, too stunned to react. Was I still dreaming? Astra was leaning against the armrest and Kara was now leaning against her, coffee cup in one hand, hugging one of my throw pillows against her chest like a security blanket with the other arm, Astra absently wrapped an arm around Kara’s shoulders as Kara pillowed her head against Astra’s shoulder, while Astra began to lazily toy with Kara’s hair, absently running her fingers through it. It was downright cute, normal even, looking at the two of them I couldn’t see any traces of the hostility that was there originally, they looked like…well, like an aunt and her niece who were enjoying a quiet lazy day in.

“Uh…how long was I asleep?” I wondered

“Kara arrived sometime after you fell asleep,” Astra began, not even bothering to take her eyes off the TV “after a brief…disagreement, we began to talk” she explained, and I found myself franticly looking around the apartment for signs of damage, but nothing was broken that I could see, no smashed chairs, no holes in the walls, no missing walls

“We stayed up all night,” Kara added “just talking, really talking, about everything that’s happened” she gushed, I suddenly noticed that she looked tired, like she’d been up all night crying, maybe she had, maybe they both had, maybe they both just stayed up all night reconnecting for the first time in years. God, just how tired was I last night?

“We reaffirmed our blood bonds” Astra pitched in, as if that explained everything, which, I guess, if you’re Kryptonian, it kinda does, the whole ‘blood binds us all’ thing

“I…I need coffee” I finally said, it was way too early for this

“It’s in your hand, Alex” Kara pointed out; I looked down, staring the coffee mug in my hand, how did that get there?

“Oh” I said intelligently

“Alex, come and sit down” Kara invited, I suddenly felt very awkward about the idea of sitting down next to both Astra and Kara, granted Astra and I didn’t actually do anything last night except for a few kisses, but still, it felt weird. So, I gingerly lowered myself to the couch cushion, with Kara squeezed between Astra and I like some kind of dorky chaperone, and in a few minutes I started to relax, enjoying this weird little family moment with my sister and my…girlfriend? Lover? What do you call the woman you know you’re in love with but haven’t actually even gone on a date with anyway?

My thoughts were cut off when my window suddenly exploded and a speeding black blur shot into the room, knocking Kara and Astra away like toys and throwing me to floor. Everything got jumbled after that, I saw bits and pieces, like a badly edited movie.

…Astra and Kara lunging for my assailant…

…Kara already in her Supergirl outfit…

…Astra reaching for me…

…someone screaming…

….a kryptonite knife laying the floor stained with blood…

….hands roughly grabbing me and pulling me towards the window…

….then nothing…


	2. Motives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you could only see the beast you've made of me  
> I held it in but now it seems you've set it running free  
> Screaming in the dark, I howl when we're apart  
> Drag my teeth across your chest to taste your beating heart  
> -Florence + the Machine "Howl"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next chapter, this story with flip between Kara and Alex's POV

**Kara**

After Alex was taken, I grabbed Astra and flew her to the DEO; the stab wound in her side was healing, but too slowly. Now I was standing outside the infirmary watching as Astra rested, she was lying on the sunbed they normally use for me, unconscious for now. 

She looked pale, almost dead.

“Supergirl,” I turned to see Hank standing behind me, he nodded to the glass “how’s she doing?” he asked quietly

“She’s healing, Dr. Hamilton said that a piece of the knife broke off inside the wound, that’s why she didn’t heal right away when she took the knife out,” I took a breath, trying to not panic “she tried to protect her,” Hank just looked at me funny “Alex," I explained "when Non burst in, Astra just… _threw_ herself at him, even after he stabbed her, she grabbed at his legs and tried to pull him back in” beside me Hank sighed

“I guess that kiss did mean something after all” he muttered

“What kiss?” I asked who kissed who? Hank sighed again and shook his head

“Later” he told me

“Director Henshaw, Supergirl,” both Hank and I turned to see General Lane standing behind us, two soldiers standing behind him, General Lane nodded at them “secure the prisoner” I watched as one the soldiers (or were they Marines?) went into the infirmary and quickly cuffed one of Astra’s wrists to the bed with a pair of ordinary handcuffs

“You’re arresting her?!” I demanded “she’s still hurt, she could barely stand when I brought her in!”

“Hurt or not, she’s still represents one of the greatest threats to national security in the last thirty years”

“She also willingly came to one of my agents last night,” Hank pointed out “she could have easily killed Agent Danvers then, but she didn’t, she also attempted to protect both Agent Danvers and Supergirl today when Non abducted her”

“Of which we only have Supergirl’s testimony for that,” General Lane said “for all we know General Astra came to Agent Danvers as a ruse, the same with her supposed injury”

“So what? She just let herself be stabbed? On purpose?” I demanded

“Need I remind you, that the last time she was here in DEO custody she allowed herself to be captured so that her army could launch an assault on Lord Technologies? During which Director Henshaw was captured and held hostage, and when we questioned her on the location of her base and Director Henshaw she gave us false information that led to the deaths of six soldiers”

“’Questioned her’? You _tortured_ her!!” I yelled

“I did what I deemed necessary in order to obtain vital information from a hostile combatant” 

“You could have _**killed**_ her!!!”

 _ **“THAT’S ENOUGH!!”**_ Hank suddenly bellowed, we both stopped arguing to stare at him, Hank sighed “Supergirl, the General’s right, we still don’t know what Astra’s motives are, so for now she stays here,” I started to say something but Hank held up a hand, stopping me “that being said, General Lane, it’s my opinion that by visiting Agent Danvers last night General Astra has willingly surrendered herself to the DEO, which makes her my responsibility and places her under the custody of DEO agents. Meaning that if you or any of your men go near her with so much as a kryptonite _thumbtack_ , I will happily have Supergirl escort you from the premises,” I had stop myself from doing a little happy dance at Hank’s words, instead I tried my best to look cool and badass, I think it worked, at least a little, since one of the soldiers behind General Lane actually took a step a back and General Lane got all red-faced “Supergirl,” Hank said, I looked up at him “you’re with me,” he nodded at General Lane and then started to walk away, with me hurrying to catch up, even with superspeed “I’ll assign an agent to watch Astra,” he told me “but right now we need to figure out where Non’s taken Alex”

“I think Winn might be able to help”

“Your coworker?”

“He helped us last night with the satellites,” I pointed out “and I am _not_ asking Maxwell Lord for help” Hank nodded

“All right, bring Mr. Schott in,” he agreed “Kara,” he called out when I turned to go “make it quick, we’re on a clock” he told me, I took a shakily breath

“Don’t remind me”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

I slowly came back to awareness; my head was pounding, like there were a thousand tiny people with jackhammers happily drilling away at the inside of my skull, my thoughts were still jumbled, bits and pieces of memories flew by inside my head 

Someone abducted me...Kara...Astra...a kryptonite knife...

I jerked up, wincing at the shooting pain in my arm and my head. I took in my surroundings, I was in a large room, and the only light came from a large circular table-like structure with a raised platform in the center

“It would be so _easy_ to kill you” Non’s voice suddenly rasped out from the darkness

“You won’t kill me,” I told him as I slowly sat up, doing my best to ignore the wave of nausea and dizziness, yeah I probably had a mild concussion “I’m bait,” Non didn’t answer “so,” I began, trying for cool and calm under pressure “where are we exactly?”

“At the heart of our operation” Non explained, stepping out of shadows like some cheesy Bond villain, I glanced around the dark room

“So, this where you and Astra have been hiding out all this time?” I wondered, Non nodded slowly

“Yes,” he answered, softly, almost reverently, as he walked towards me “it was our prison,” he explained “our home. Until you managed to corrupt her,” he stepped right up to me “I wanted you awake,” he hissed “so I could see the pain and fear in your eyes as you died” he explained, I shook my head

“I didn’t ‘corrupt’ Astra,” I told him “she doesn’t want this, not anymore. After you sent the black mercy after Supergirl, she came to me, told me how to free her,” I cautiously took a step forward, I thought about my situation for a second, here I was dressed in nothing but a ratty collage t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, a pair of panties, not to mention barefoot, and I’m actually trying to talk down an alien who could probably kill me with his pinky finger without even trying. Astra was wrong about me, I’m not brave, I’m freaking _stupid_ “I’m sure you love her,” I continued “but what you’re planning to do to National City, to Earth…she’s lost her taste for it” Non merely smirked

“We shall see, human”


	3. Myriad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winn helps look for Alex and Kara and Astra have a talk

**Kara**

“Kara, could you stop doing that, you’re making me nervous,” Winn murmured as he and Vasquez both frantically typed away, both trying find a satellite that could track Non, I sighed and stopped pacing, looking down, I could actually see I had actually worn a slight divot in the floor

“I should be doing something, I should out there looking for her” I hissed

“That’s exactly what Non wants,” Hank reminded me quietly, coming up behind me “why do you think he attacked you so blatantly?” he pointed out “he wanted you, both you and Astra, to see Alex being taken, for both of you to get mad and go after him in a blind rage” I sighed, knowing he was right

“That still doesn’t make feel any better” I grumbled

“Why don’t you go check on Astra?” Hank suggested

“You’re just saying that to get rid of me”

“Well I can see that it isn’t working, since you’re still here” I sighed

“All right, all right, just…”

“We’ll let you know the minute we turn up something” Hank assured me  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When I got the infirmary I found that Astra was awake and was sitting up in the sunbed. Somewhere along the way they’d switched out the regular handcuffs chaining her to the bed for a pair of kryptonite cuffs. Astra smiled at me, but then scowled when the cuffs pulled at her arm when she tried to sit up

“How’s your side?” I asked awkwardly

“Almost fully healed, thank you, little one” she answered

“Aunt Astra, I…I am so sorry about this,” I told her “if I had known last night…” she shook her head

“Last night we discussed the past, not the future,” she reminded me gently “any word on your sister?”

“No,” I ran my hands through my hair in frustration “I should be out there, I should be looking for her,” I started to pace “I should be doing something!”

“Kara, listen to me,” Astra began, reaching out with her free hand to grab my arm “if you try to stand against Non, he will _kill_ you, and everyone you love”

“Is that why he took Alex?” I asked “to draw me out?”

“It’s possible,” Astra answered, she sighed and shook her head, looking away “I don’t know,” she sighed “you have to understand, Kara, Fort Rozz…changed us…twisted us… made us obsessed with certain goals” something suddenly went ‘click’ in my head

“Last night…when I was fighting Non…he said something about, uh ‘myriad’,” I said, Astra sighed “what is it?” I asked

“Myriad…,” Astra began “was, or should I say, is, my final solution. A desperate plan created by a desperate mind” she explained, I shook my head, feeling confused

“I don’t understand”

“In short, Myriad allows you to force people to your way of thinking” I gulped as I realized what she meant

“Mind control” Astra nodded, looking down, ashamed, I realized

“Yes,” she answered “you were too young to understand, but, by that point in time, we had strangled Krypton of virtually every last resource, our politicians argued, bickered, but couldn’t agree on a solution”

“So you tried your own” I interrupted not unkindly, she nodded

“Myriad was designed to turn a city into a living supercomputer,” she explained “millions of minds all working together to find a solution to the world’s problems. But, when Non and I were caught trying to use Myriad on Argo City, Non killed a guard, and--” I nodded along

“You were both sentenced to Fort Rozz,” I shook my head “and when you crashed here on Earth you tried to start again, to recreate Myriad here on Earth” she nodded

“Yes”

“But then why is everyone so afraid to talk about it? My mother’s hologram wouldn’t tell me about it” I asked, Astra looked up me

“Your mother’s…what?” she asked

“Oh, uh, mother sent this, like, interactive AI of herself along with me in my pod,” I explained “I didn’t even know about it, it was Alex who finally got it working” Astra nodded slowly, she looked very pale all of a sudden

“What did…it…say, about Myriad?” she finally asked slowly

“Nothing, it told me it wasn’t ‘authorized’ to talk about Myriad and threatened to self-destruct” I answered, Astra sighed

“The Council must’ve classified information about it” she explained

“Why?”

“Because, Myriad could shift the balance of power in the galaxy, imagine, you could enslave an entire world just by pushing a button,” she sighed again “I don’t tell you this because I want you to forgive me,” she said “or even that I want you to understand my actions. I’m telling you this because I want to stop it, Myriad was the product of an insane mind, and I am now wholly sane” I reached out and took her hand

“You made a mistake,” I told her “but, Aunt Astra, you were trying to save lives. OK, yes, I agree with Mom, your solution was a little…extreme, but you were still trying to save people” I told her, she shook her head

“That still doesn’t excuse that fact that I committed acts of terror, that I justified the taking of lives in order to save them, or that I lost your mother’s trust at the very end,” she chuckled bitterly “did your mother’s hologram tell you about what happened during my trial?” she asked, I shook my head

“No”

“Alura tried to convince me to plead guilty, to ask for leniency, I…insulted her, I spat out every vile insult I could think of at her, every slight or wound from our childhood was dragged to the surface, and do you know what she did? At the very end, just before I was sentenced?” I shook my head as Astra looked up, tears in her eyes “she told me that she loved me, that she wished things had ended differently…I told her that I despised her, that I hated her, that I wished I had never had a sister” I just stood there, I never knew this side of the story, after I found out that Astra was still alive, I thought that she had just gone crazy, but I realized that she was driven over the edge by different things, idiot stick-in-the-mud politicians, her desperation to save Krypton, being condemned by her own sister. Looking at her now, I saw that she didn’t look crazy anymore, she looked haunted, and I suddenly realized that it was something that Alex had seen last night, why else would she let Astra stay the night?

I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into a hug, ignoring the weakness and ache from the kryptonite cuffs

“You made a mistake,” I reminded her “what matters now is that you’re trying to fix it” I told her, she pulled back and gently cupped my cheek

“Your sister is largely responsible for that” she explained

“How?” I asked

“She gave me hope” Astra answered, I thought she was going to say more, but a knock on the glass interrupted her

“Ma’am?” I looked over my shoulder as Agent Vasquez leaned into the room “we found something” she said


	4. Battle Lines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex has been found, but its that easy

It's a different kind of danger  
And my feet are spinning 'round  
Never knew I was a dancer  
Till Delilah showed me how  
-Florence + the Machine "Delilah"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

I watched as Non toyed with a small silver ball in his hand, it was small, about the size of a baseball, made of a silver cage surrounding a glowing blue light. It looked almost ornamental, like some kitschy thing you’d put in your living room, but it also looked dangerous, something about the way he handled that thing unnerved me.

“Do you what this is?” he asked me suddenly

“No,” I answered, crossing my arms “why don’t you tell me” I sneered sarcastically, even though I was a prisoner they hadn’t bothered to restrain me, even now I was actually standing right next to Non, of course when you got the powers he does, you don’t really need to bother chaining up your prisoners, he could just fry me with heat vision if I stepped out of line.

Non smirked at me as the ball suddenly started glowing and began to spin like a top, floating in the air above his hand

“This,” he said “is the instrument of your destruction”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Kara**

“You found them?” I asked as I walked into the control room, Hank and General Lane were already there

“Agent Vasquez and your…friend…seem to have found Non’s location” General Lane explained, Hank nodded at Winn encouragingly

“Mr. Schott”

“Uh, well, OK, um, well we couldn’t find Non, per se,” Winn started, he turned back to the computer “but, OK, now, all Kryptonians, whenever they use their powers, give off a unique electromagnetic field, OK? So, we were able to, uh, borrow, a couple of NASA and National Weather Service satellites and were able to track a Kryptonian electromagnetic field going from Ale..Agent Danvers apartment to…here” a map of the US appeared, focusing in on area in the desert

“Where is that?” I asked

“Five hundred miles northeast of here, ma’am,” Vasquez answered “Nevada”

“What the hell is Nevada?” I wondered, I looked over as Hank cleared his throat, he crossed his arms and stared down General Lane, who suddenly looked nervous

“Something you want to tell us, General?” Hank asked, General Lane sighed

“It’s Fort Rozz” he said, I blinked

“What, you just…left it there?” I asked

“You try moving a one million ton alien spacecraft,” Lane scoffed “we did the only thing we could do, we concealed it using its own stealth technology and cordoned off the area, called it a nuclear test zone”

“Makes it a good place to hide,” Winn commented “I mean nobody’s just gonna, you know…walk into a nuclear test site by accident” he pointed out

“They’ve been there the whole time” I realized as Hank scowled at General Lane

“Do you mean to tell me that you’ve know exactly where they’ve been hiding all this time?” he demanded

“It was on a need to know basis,” General Lane answered “and considering the DEO’s track record when it comes to detaining alien hostiles--”

“Do you know how easily we could have stopped them?” Hank interrupted, he scowled and shook his head “I’ll assemble a strike team” he said

“Forget that,” I snarled, stalking away from “no one else is going to die because of Non, I’ll go get her out myself”

“Not alone you won’t,” I stopped as Astra walked into the room, the kryptonite cuffs still dangling off her arm. I was still trying to figure out how she got lose as she walked up to me and smiled softly, it was the same smile she used to give me when I was little, when she used to let me do things that my mother didn’t want me to do “I’m going with you” she said

“How in the hell did you get free?” General Lane demanded

“I was trained on how pick locks in the Military Guild, General” she sneered

“You’re still under arrest” General Lane snapped

“And you’re still hurt” I jumped in

“Regardless of how General Astra got free, Supergirl is going into the proverbial lion’s den,” Hank pointed out “she’s going to need all the help she can get, and Astra is offering” he explained, General Lane shook his head

“I’m _not_ releasing her,” he said simply, as if that ended it “she’s a threat to national security”

“And you won’t have a nation left to secure if you don’t release me” Astra fired back

“Uh, sir?” Vasquez suddenly called out, Hank turned

“What is it?” he asked

“We just picked up an energy signature emanating from Fort Rozz,” Vasquez answered “it’s getting stronger by the second” she added, she tapped a few keys and the words ‘MATCH FOUND’ suddenly blinked on the screen before another image popped up on the screen of a spinning silver-blue ball

“What the heck is that?” Winn asked

“An omegahedron” Astra answered

“An omega-what?” Winn asked

“An omegahedron,” I repeated “we used them as energy sources back on Krypton, just one of those could power an entire city” I explained

“We found several of them when Fort Rozz first crashed,” Hank said “but they were all dead or dying, we could never figure out how to turn them back on”

“Obviously someone has” Astra said

“That still doesn’t mean I’m letting you go” General Lane told her

“Then the blood of every person in National City will be on you hands,” she fired back, she pointed at the screen “with _that_ , in his possession, Non can use it to quite literally power the destruction of this planet” she explained. I watched as Hank slowly turned to General Lane

“Release her. Now” he ordered, I watched as a muscle in General Lane’s jaw twitched before he finally glanced over at one of the soldiers who’d followed him into the room

“Take the _other cuff_ , off of the prisoner” he finally ordered, looking like he was actually choking on the words, and I had to stop from doing another happy dance. Astra held up her wrist

“Don’t bother” she sneered, easily picking the lock of the other cuff and throwing the whole thing away, I blinked at her as we started to walk out of the room

“Did you seriously just use a _hairpin_ to get out of those cuffs?” I asked

“Your Dr. Hamilton is quite obliging when it comes to her patients’ wellbeing” she answered casually, I had to bite back a laugh as I nodded

“Let’s do it”


	5. Fallen Angels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this going to be at least seven chapters long

Holy water cannot help you now  
A thousand armies couldn't keep me out  
I don't want your money  
I don't want your crown  
See I have come to burn  
Your kingdom down  


-Florence + the Machine "Seven Devils"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

“General!” a male Kryptonian marched up to Non, he snapped to attention when Non turned to him “our perimeter has been breached” he announced, Non scowled

“Kara Zor-El?” he asked mildly, the other man nodded “very well, leave us,” Non glanced back the silver ball in his hand which suddenly went dead, dropping his palm, he glanced up at me “shall we meet our guest?” he asked  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next thing I knew, I was being dropped onto the ground like a piece of luggage at baggage claim. Still dizzy, I looked up to see Kara standing a couple of feet in front of us, slowly sitting up; I could see that we were in the middle of the desert, the sun high in the sky, the hot sand underneath me burning and stinging at my exposed skin. Looking around, I suddenly got a sinking feeling my gut when I saw the large, spherical shape just over the next rise, and realized just what it was.

Fort Rozz

“Let her go” Kara snarled, Non smirked

“But of course” he grabbed my arm and roughly hauled me to my feet, shoving me towards Kara so hard I nearly fell over again

“Are you OK?” Kara asked, catching me as I stumbled, I nodded

“Yeah,” I grunted as I regained my balance “just super” I muttered, Kara turned her attention back to Non

“Where’s the omegahedron?” she demanded, Non held up the ball again

“Its right here,” he answered, he dropped it at our feet “take it,” he said casually “smash it into little bits, you still won’t stop it. It’s only a means to an end,” he turned and pointed towards Fort Rozz “the true power comes from her” he explained, Kara shook her head as Non turned back to face us

“This isn’t what Astra wants” she said

“Your aunt wanted to save this world;” Non countered “eradicating them…” he nodded at me “…will ensure that”

“That _isn’t_ what she wants!” I snarled “that was _never_ what she wanted! She wanted to _save_ lives, not destroy them!!” I was mad as hell, if it was up to me I’d find a way to tear Non limb from limb for everything he did, for sending the black mercy after Kara, for abducting me, and for whatever twisted things he did to Astra’s mind in Fort Rozz.

Non suddenly smirked and I suddenly realized my mistake, he had taken me because of Astra, not Kara, as I originally thought. Drawing out Kara was just an added bonus to him, his real target was Astra. In his warped view of the world I was the competition for Astra’s heart, take me out of the equation and Astra would automatically come back to him.

“Tell me, _human_ ,” Non began slowly “how is it that you know what my wife wants?” he asked “hmm? Did she perhaps tell you as you lay together in bed?” he mocked “did she tell you all of her hopes and dreams? Whisper them as sweet nothings into you ear?” he chuckled cruelly “you know _nothing_ about what she wants,” he sneered. He suddenly shot forward, landing a mean right hook across Kara’s jaw, sending her flying back about ten feet, before he turned his attention to me, grabbing me by the throat and lifting me up off the ground, his grip tightening the higher I went “you are going to die _slowly_!” he hissed, there was a sudden woosh and something suddenly slammed into him, knocking him away from me.

As I dropped to the ground, clutching at my throat, and gasping for breath, I saw what, or rather who, had saved me

Astra

She slowly uncoiled from the half-crouch she had landed in, reminding me of some kind of big cat, all lithe muscles and sharp teeth and claws, beautiful and deadly at the same time. She glanced over at me, and I found that, perhaps because of what happened last night, I could read her as easily as a book, she was concerned for me, terrified that Non had hurt me, and ready and willing to kill him if he had. I nodded, trying to let her know that I was all right; she nodded back at me and then turned her attention back to Non. Her body language was slow, methodical, calculated.

Deadly

“Did you really think that I would so easily forgive an attack on my family?” she called out “on my blood?” she added, and I felt a shiver run down my spine at her words, her voice was like diamond, cold and hard, sharp enough to cut steel. I could practically see the anger and barely-contained primal rage just radiating off her in waves, her hands were flexing at her sides, her fists clenching and unclenching as she slowly approached Non, seeming to loom over him even as he slowly got to his feet and drew himself up to his full height

“It was you who decided to throw away everything we worked for,” he snarled “and for what? A _human_?”

“No,” Astra said with a shake of her head as she and Non slowly—almost casually—began to circle each other, like two predators sizing each other up “not just a ‘human’,” she said “my family”

“’Family’?!” Non sneered “blood does not bind us to _them_ , Astra!” he spat

“Which makes it all the sweeter” Astra purred, deliberately goading him

“Have you forgotten how they tortured you?” Non snarled, I saw a muscle in Astra’s jaw twitch as they suddenly stopped circling each, the lines had been drawn

“No,” Astra replied slowly “I haven’t,” she shook her head “but I have forgotten the tortures of Fort Rozz,” she nodded at Non “my mind is clear for the first time in decades, something I can not say for you,” she shifted in a clear fighting stance, legs apart, shoulders loose “this madness ends. Now”

“So be it!” Non snarled, he suddenly shot to the side, barreling straight for me, Astra intercepted, grabbing him from behind in a bear hug, and then carried them both up into the sky when they promptly began to pummel each other

“Alex!” I turned at the sound of Kara calling out to me

“Hey, hey, are you OK?” I rushed over to her, she grunted and groaned as she shakily got up

“Yeah, yeah,” she rubbed at her jaw “he just caught me by surprise,” she explained as she got to her feet “where’s Astra?” she asked. I looked back up to watch what amounted to the ultimate marriage spat as Astra and Non continued to brawl high above us

“Divorcing Non” I answered. From this distance I couldn’t tell them apart, they were just two fast-moving black blurs which would collide, break apart, and then collide again, chasing each other back and forth across the sky with kicks, punches, and blasts of heat vision. It was like some kind of weird aerial ballet. Suddenly, one of them got the upper hand, sending the other smashing into the ground. As the dust settled, I could see that it was Astra who’d been sent crashing to earth, I gripped Kara’s arm tighter, pulling her back

“She’s needs help!” Kara protested, I shook my head as Astra got to her feet

“No,” I said “she needs to finish this herself” I explained when another crash caught my attention. Whipping my head around I saw that Non had landed and now both he and Astra were slowly circling each other again

“You’re allowing your anger to control you,” Non commented, and I was never gladder for echoing rock walls because I could hear every word “I wonder why,” he added, and there was a hint of genuine curiosity in his voice “could it be because I took your little pet?” he taunted. Astra suddenly charged, slamming into Non like a linebacker, but this time he was ready for her, he spun away and kicked her in the jaw, sending her flying back to land in the dirt again.

For a second she just lay there, unmoving

“C’mon,” I muttered as Non straightened up and began to slowly walk towards Astra, an arrogant swagger in his walk “c’mon, honey, don’t give up now, not now”

“When you join your sister in the light of Rao,” Non began as Astra struggled to get her feet “you can tell her that I said ‘hello’” Astra suddenly surged to her feet, spinning around to face him and firing off a blast of heat vision. Non quickly fired back, the two sets of beams colliding in between them in a blinding light. For a second they were evenly matched, but then Non started to gain ground, his heat vision slowly pushing Astra back, I could see her grinding her heels into the sand as she tried to keep steady, but then Astra slowly began to push back, now it was Non who was struggling to keep steady, to keep his ground. With a sudden, almost primal, roar, Astra lunged forward, her heat vision seeming to burst into bright blue flames. Non suddenly screamed, his body jerking like he was being electrocuted, as the beams from his own heat vision were suddenly thrown back at him in a blinding flash of light before they both collapsed to the ground

I quickly got to my feet, rushing over to Astra, Kara quickly following me

“Hey, hey,” I dropped down to Astra’s side, she was lying flat of her back, gasping for breath, she looked pale, her nose was bleeding, which told me she’d probably just blown out her powers with that little stunt, but she was alive. She coughed and groaned as she focused on me

“Hello, brave one” she said softly, reaching up to cup my cheek

“Hey,” I said quietly as I grabbed her hand and brushed her hair away from her face with my other hand “you got him, honey,” I told her “you won” I whispered. She took a breath and suddenly chuckled

“I told you that you were brave” she said hoarsely, still gasping for breath, I shook my head

“I’m not brave” I told her softly

“No,” she said, shaking her head “I saw you, when you yelled at him, you would’ve found a way to make him bleed, I’m certain of it”

“Aunt Astra?” Kara asked quietly, Astra smiled softly at her

“Hello, little one” she said softly

“Are you OK?” Kara asked, Astra wiped at the blood on her lip and stared at her hand, and I realized that it was probably the first time she’d seen herself bleed since Hank had stabbed her with the kryptonite knife back in that warehouse

“I will be” she assured Kara, Kara laughed and looked up me

“We did it, we won” she said with a grin, I glanced over at Non, he was still breathing

“No,” I said quietly “not yet” I slowly got up and began to walk over to Non’s limp form. As I got closer I could see that, while he was still breathing, his chest was rising shallowly, both of his eyelids were blackened and burned, while his eyes themselves were red and bloodshot. As I stood over him, I watched as his eyes focused on me

“She cares for you,” he rasped out, he sounded disbelieving and yet hurt at the same time “she loves you,” he continued, he weakly shook his head, almost in disbelief “I…had hoped…,” he shook his head again “take care of her” he told me, almost pleading. I blinked, out of everything I expected to hear Non say to me as he lay dying that wasn’t it.

But looking down at him, I suddenly saw what I’d seen in Astra last night, clarity, that same wild insanity that seemed to be in the eyes of every Fort Rozz escapee---that had been in _Astra’s_ eyes—was gone, the only difference between the two of them was that Astra had come to her senses in time, before that madness drove her to destruction, for Non it had happened too late, and I suddenly felt sorry for him. He had probably married Astra out of genuine love, most likely hoping that she’d grow to love him back, but I doubt if she ever did, if she even loved him in the first place, and when they came here to Earth, Non’s insanity drove him to obsess over recreating their master plan here on Earth in the delusional hope that it would make her love him

“Astra!” I called out, both Kara and Astra looked up, Astra seemed to understand what was happening and quickly struggled to her feet, leaning on Kara for support as she hurried over where I was “he doesn’t have long” I said, stepping back slightly, whatever their relationship was like, they both deserved the right to say goodbye. I watched as Astra gingerly crouched down next to him

{Hello, old friend} she said softly in Kryptonese, Non took a breath and shook his head, his eyes flickering back to me

{You love her} he said, Astra nodded softly

{I do,} she replied {more than you know} she added, Non shook his head again, his breathing was getting labored, he was fading fast

{I wish…,} he began {I wish that you had loved me more} he said, Astra nodded softly as she took his hand, lacing her fingers with his, it was tender gesture, but hesitant, like she didn’t know if he wanted her affection anymore

{I wish…that you had loved me less,} she said finally {I’m sorry…that it had to end this way} she added, Non nodded, breathing harder

{As am I} he said, he winced in obvious pain, took a final, ragged breath, and then closed his eyes for the last time. For a moment, none of us moved, it was suddenly feeling like a hollow victory, Non’s death should have been a relief, but instead it was just sad. I thought back to what Astra had told me about the conditions in Fort Rozz, about how the prisoners could be beaten, tortured, and even killed by the guards with little thought, looking down at Non’s body all I could think was.

_‘Another casualty of Fort Rozz’_

I jumped slightly when Astra slowly stood up and cleared her throat

{You have been the sun of our lives,} she began in an oddly hollow tone {our prayers will be the sun that lights your journey home. We will remember you every dawn and await the night to join you in the sky. Rao’s will be done} a prayer for the dead I realized, and I suddenly felt like an outsider, like I was intruding. It was strange, having Non of all people blessing Astra and me. I tentatively reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, not sure if I was wanted anymore, if she still loved me

“Are you all right?” I asked quietly, Astra slowly turned to me, reaching up to cover my hand with her own

“I’m fine, love” she said softly, she and Non had been something, once, I realized, but not now, they hadn’t been for a long time, whatever they had had crumbled the second after they were sentenced to Fort Rozz, but looking at her now I reminded myself that what I had seen in her eyes last night on my couch—what I _still_ saw—was very real. Astra suddenly frowned and turned to look over her shoulder, I pulled away from her and followed her gaze, at first only hearing a thunder-like rumble, but then I saw several black blurs flying straight towards us from Fort Rozz, rumbling like jet fighters as they approached

“We need to go,” I ordered “Kara, can you get us outta here?” I asked, Kara blinked, she looked a little bug-eyed, and I suddenly realized that she had just heard Astra tell Non that she loved me

“Yeah, yeah” she quickly shook her head, and then wrapped one of her arms over each us and, once we were both secure, shot up into the sky.


	6. Hail the Returning Heroes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio return to the DEO, but what happens next?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to apologize for being so late with this update, but real life got...well...real. Hopefully I can finish this off in a few days/weeks

Our arrival back at the DEO was certainly…interesting to say the least, while Kara looked all cool and badass in her costume and cape (not mention completely unscathed, not even a hair out of place). Astra, in comparison, could barely stand, needing to be propped up by both Kara and me and was still sporting a bloody nose, and as for me, I was barefoot and in my underwear covered from head to toe in cuts, scrapes, and bruises. In fact, compared to Kara, Astra and I probably looked more like two friends doing the walk of shame after a night of binge drinking and bar crawling, something I haven’t done since my days as an undergrad.

Not exactly the ‘victorious heroes’ returning from the battlefield

Entering Command was downright surreal, it seemed like the entire DEO was there, I could see Winn standing off to the side with Vasquez (what the hell is her first name, anyway?), along with General Lane. I suddenly felt more than a little exposed standing there in front of all those people in my underwear.

Then Hank started clapping, and slowly, one by one, the rest of the room joined in

“Welcome back, Agent Danvers,” Hank greeted me as he walked up to me and shook my hand, then quickly pulled me into a brief, but firm, hug. As he pulled back, he nodded at Astra “nice work, General, maybe you’ll get to play for the team after all” he said, and if that wasn’t a job offer I didn’t know what was. Astra, even with the bloody nose, pulled herself upright, standing tall and proud and held out her hand to Hank, who easily took it

“Thank you” Astra said simply as they shook hands

“What about Non?” Hank asked

“Dead, sir,” I answered “killed by General Astra” Hank nodded

“Good to hear” he said just as General Lane came over

“Nice to see that you’re all in one piece, Agent Danvers” he said diplomatically, I nodded back at him

“Thank you, General” I said as Lane nodded at Astra

“General Astra,” he began “Director Henshaw and I have both spoken to the President, she agrees with Director Henshaw that your actions today represent a turning point in this war, she also agrees with Director Henshaw’s assessment that your actions last night also constitute those of a defector, and has decided to offer you amnesty”

“Yes!” Kara cheered, looking like my dorky sister again instead of Supergirl; General Lane cleared his throat and scowled at Kara as he continued

“ _In exchange_ ,” he emphasized, ignoring Kara and staring Astra down “you _will_ provide any and all information you possess on the Fort Rozz aliens, their capabilities, their weaknesses, and how to contain or eliminate them,” he leveled Astra with a glare “do we have an agreement?” he asked

“I will accept your terms only on one condition” Astra said, looking completely unaffected by Lane’s glare

“Name it” Hank said, his tone told me he knew exactly what Astra was going to ask for. Astra glanced over at me

“I will only work with Agent Danvers” she said, Hank slowly nodded

“That can be easily arranged,” he said, he glanced at Lane “General?” he questioned, Lane nodded

“Agreed” he said

“Then I accept your terms” Astra said simply, General Lane nodded

“Then,” he began, holding out a hand towards her “on behalf of the government of the United States, welcome, General Astra,” they shook hands, before Lane stepped back nodded at the small group of soldiers “men! Fall out!” he barked out

“Well,” Hank said suddenly once the last soldier filed out of the room “now that’s out of the way, we should get both General Astra and Agent Danvers to the infirmary. Especially considering that the General’s been bleeding all over herself for the past few minutes” even as he said this I watched as Astra wiped the blood from her nose with a snarl of annoyance

“I’ll take them” Kara said, quickly ushering us both out of the room  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“So…,” Kara began “do you want to, you know, talk about it?”

“Talk about what?” I asked, wincing as Dr. Hamilton sprayed an antiseptic on the cuts on my legs before slapping bandages on them with downright brutal efficiency “ow! Easy, Doc”

“If you’d hold still, Agent, it wouldn’t hurt as much” she told me calmly, moving up my legs

“Sorry, you were saying, Kara?”

“I was asking if you wanted to talk about what happened back there, you know, in the desert, with what Non said about you and Astra?” she hinted

“Non said a lot of things about Astra and me” I deflected, Kara sighed and rolled her eyes

“Come _on_ , Alex!”

“Come on, what?” I asked, I winced as Dr. Hamilton slapped another bandage on “do you mind?!”

“I won’t have any sibling rivalries breaking out in my infirmary,” she said “I’m done with your legs, Agent,” she reached over and held up a syringe “roll over onto your stomach, please”

“What for?” I asked, Dr. Hamilton hefted the syringe

“Tetanus shot” she explained

“Isn’t that the one that they inject in your…?” Kara wondered, Dr. Hamilton nodded, Kara nodded back “I’ll come back” she said quickly, backing out of the room

“Chicken,” I muttered, rolling onto my stomach “we shared a bathroom, its not like it’s the first time you’ve seen me naked”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After what felt like hours, Dr. Hamilton finally let me go. In addition to the tetanus shot, she’d also pumped me full of enough antibiotics that my blood could probably be used as a pharmacy. After making my escape (like all doctors, I make a terrible patient, I admit that), and grabbing a pair of pants from my locker (still no shoes though, only socks), I headed to the isolation labs where the sunbeds were kept, I found Kara standing just outside the door, apparently waiting for me

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, I sighed

“All right,” I said “look, what Non said back there, about Astra, about me, is…kind of true”

“Kind of true?” Kara echoed

“Astra _does_ love me,” I began “I found that out last night, she hasn’t actually said the words, but…I just…know that she does” I explained, Kara stepped forward

“So, last night, when she came to your place…” Kara began

“It wasn’t to offer a peace treaty, no,” I answered “she came to me looking for…looking for absolution, I think, she told me that I…that I gave her hope,” I took a breath “and do you know what’s ironic?” Kara shook her head “she gives me hope,” I explained “hope that I can…that I can actually have a life outside the DEO, that I can…that I can be super too”

“Alex,” Kara laughed “you _are_ super”

“Yeah, well…sometimes it doesn’t feel that way;” I admitted “actually, it feels like that a lot of the time…but, when I’m with Astra, even for just those few hours last night, I feel…invincible”

“Alex…,” Kara began “are you…falling for her?” I had to laugh at that, a half-crazy sounding maniacal cackle 

“I’ve already fallen for her,” I said “I love her, Kara, _so much_ , it hurts” I whispered, I looked away, waiting for her to blow up, after all who wouldn’t after they found out that their sister had fallen head-over-heels for their aunt?

“Well,” Kara said at least “I guess I should be glad that I look like my dad, huh?” I looked up at her as she grinned, all sunny and bright and full of life and light again “’cause, I know that we’re not _actually_ related, but still, it’d be a little weird if I looked like her, wouldn’t it?” I laughed at her and hit her in arm

“Shut up, you dork,” she mimed as if my punch had really hurt her “are you seriously OK with…this?” I asked, Kara slowly nodded

“It’s a little weird, I’ll admit, but…,” she took a breath “if you’re happy, then I’m happy, and Astra was always my hero when I was little, and then you were after I came here…so, the way I see it is, why not make each other happy?” she shrugged, I sighed with relief as I leaned against the wall

“Thanks” I said, Kara nodded

“ _But_ ,” she said “once you go in there and sweep Astra off her feet, I’m begging you, please, _please_ , don’t give me the details, OK? I really don’t want to hear about what a good kisser my aunt is, all right?” I laughed again

“Deal” I said, but then I suddenly had a sobering thought

“What is it?” Kara asked

“I, uh, I don’t know exactly _how_ to, uh, sweep Astra off her feet,” I explained “I mean that’s the monkey wrench in the works here, I know that I love her, and I know that she loves me back, but…”

“But…?” Kara encouraged, I groaned and ran my fingers through my hair

“Ugh, we haven’t gone on a date yet, let alone actually said the words to each other” I snarled out

“So?” Kara asked with a shrug of her shoulders “you’ll figure it out, you always do” she gave me a pat on the shoulder and then started to walk away

“Where are you going?” I called out after her, she turned and looked over her shoulder

“I’m going to go talk to Hank, see if I can convince him to let you take Astra home with you tonight,” she answered “after all,” she added with a mischievous twinkle in her eye “you _are_ supposed to be her handler, aren’t you?” I grinned

“You can be really devious sometimes, you know that?”

“I learned from the best,” she told me, she nodded back to the isolation room “now go in there and sweep Astra off her feet”


	7. The End is Near

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Astra talk about love and marriage and Hanks finds out things he didn't want to know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost there!

And it's over  
And I'm going under  
But I'm not giving up  
I'm just giving in  


I'm slipping underneath  
So cold and so sweet  


And the arms of the ocean are carrying me  
So sweet and so cold  
And all this devotion I never knew at all  
In the crushes of heaven for a sinner released  
In the arms of the ocean deliver me  
-Florence + the Machine "Never Let Me Go" __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

When I finally got the courage to walk into the iso lab, I found Astra practically lounging on the sunbed, one leg drawn up, her arms linked behind her head. As I crossed the threshold, she raised her head to look at me

“I take it that you emerged from your ordeal unscathed?” she asked, I nodded

“A few cuts and scrapes, nothing serious,” I answered “you?” Astra shrugged

“Middling” she answered casually, I chuckled as I walked up to the sunbed

“’Middling’, huh?” I asked as I pulled a stool over to the side of the bed

“I like that word,” she answered, she sat up, pushing herself up with her elbows “I heard you and Kara talking outside just now” she said, slowly easing her legs over the side of the bed, I nodded stiffly, suddenly feeling…I don’t know what, embarrassed? Happy?

“So, what does this mean for…us?” I asked, Astra leveled me with a ‘look’

“What does it mean to you?” she asked, I took a breath as I gathered my thoughts

“I think…,” I began slowly “that we should try and…explore what this means” I looked up to see Astra nodding slowly

“I agree,” she said softly, she reached out and cupped my cheek again, her thumb brushing across my cheekbone, and I leaned into her touch “so, does this mean that we are…dating?” she asked suddenly, I chuckled

“Looks like it” I answered, Astra frowned and pulled away

“I must confess, I, uh, I don’t…uh…” she trailed off, looking frustrated, now it was my turn to reach out and cup her cheek

“Hey,” I said gently “let me guess, you’re terrified again?” I said it lightly, jokingly

“’Terrified’ doesn’t even began to describe it” she muttered

“Look,” I said “I don’t know how relationships worked on Krypton, but here on Earth, it’s basically just learning about your partner, what they like, what they don’t like, what you like about them, what you don’t like about them, stuff like that,” I reached out my other hand, cupping Astra’s other cheek “my point is, Astra, we’ll figure it out” I told her gently, she smiled softly at that, almost shyly, and I found it cute as hell

“We seem to be making a habit of this” she said

“Of what?” I asked, she chuckled

“We sit and tell each other how wonderful we both are, but yet neither of us believes it” I nodded, looking away

“Yeah,” I muttered, I sighed “look,” I said “there’s something I have to ask you, for my own peace of mind, at least, you…”

“My marriage to Non was one of convenience on my part, not of love,” she interrupted me “you must understand, Alexandra,” she began “that, for my people, marriage and love were not mutually exclusive, sometimes a marriage was arranged between the parents of the partners before they were even born, with love being considered as secondary. Although some us did marry out love, my sister among them, for most of us, a marriage was less about love and more about continuing or strengthening one’s genetic line or for strengthening a political alliance, love—or even mutual affection—meant little in that regard” I took a moment to absorb this new information before speaking

“So,” I began slowly “you married Non for…what? His connections? Influence?”

“We were…friends, once,” she explained quietly “both second-born, our siblings’ success compared to our own was assured practically from birth, we bonded over that fact, that we were both…afterthoughts in the eyes of our parents. So, for us, marriage seemed to be a…natural progression of our relationship”

“I’m sorry” I muttered, Astra smiled softly and shook her head

“Don’t be,” she said “at first it was…pleasant, as I said we had been friends first. Oh, I knew that he was in love with me, and he knew that I would never love him back, and for a time, that arrangement suited us fine. But as time progressed, we…changed”

“Changed how?” I asked

“Non was a scientist originally,” Astra explained, leaning forward and gently taking my hands in hers “in fact, it was his theories about the instability of Krypton’s core that drove me to act,” she added “at first, my actions were limited to simply trying to get people to listen, to understand what we were doing to our planet, but no one did. To many, I was simply either an annoying oddity or a…I suppose ‘doomsayer’ would be an appropriate term for my actions then” she explained, and as she said this I had a sudden mental vision of her standing on a street corner shouting at passersby that the ‘END WAS NEAR’, and if Kryptonians felt the same way that most Humans feel about people like that, then it was no one wonder why Astra turned to terrorism

“Let me guess,” I began “Non wanted more… _direct_ …action?” Astra nodded

“At my trial, my sister accused Non being responsible for my radical actions, but in reality, I think we both radicalized each other”

“How so?”

“As I said, Non loved me, even though I didn’t return his affections, but I think in some strange way…”

“You think that he thought that if he encouraged you enough that you would eventually love him back, and you were so desperate to save Krypton that you willing to agree with anyone who believed you” I reasoned, Astra nodded quietly, she suddenly smirked at me

“I tell you this, not because I loved him, I didn’t, not in the same way that he loved me, but because I want you to know, that, what I feel for you, is infinitely greater that what I felt for him, or anyone for that matter”

“I know,” I answered softly “I’ve known that since last night”

“Then why are your hands still trembling?” she asked gently

“I’m terrified,” I whispered “here, on Earth, our relationships are…different, very few people have arranged marriages anymore, in fact very few people stay married for more than a few years, nowadays, and most them don’t stay faithful to their spouses” I explained, Astra chuckled

“Alexandra, I don’t expect you to marry me this instant, nor do I expect you even marry me at all,” she explained “all I want is to be with you, nothing more, nothing less” I had to grin at that

“I want that too” I said quietly, Astra nodded

“Then, presuming I’m permitted to leave here, I shall expect you to buy me dinner”

“Why do I have to buy you dinner?" I demanded "you’re the one who broke into my apartment last night confessing your love for me” I pointed out jokingly

“Yes,” Astra agreed “but, unlike you, I lack employment, and thus money to spend on a meal” I playfully rolled my eyes

“OK, OK, assuming you can get out of here, I’ll buy you pizza, it’s not much, but it’s all I can afford on a government salary” I told her, Astra chuckled

“I see that your kind also believes in grossly underpaying government employees” she joked, I grinned and reached out and cupped her face again

“I’m going to kiss you” I told her

“Do you expect me to actually stop you?” she asked, sounding a little incredulous, I shrugged, realizing how stupid I sounded warning her that I was going to kiss her

“I guess not” I mumbled, leaning in

“Agent Danvers,” I jumped back from Astra, nearly falling off the stool and flat onto my ass at the sound of Hank’s voice. I straightened up and tried to look as professional as possible in my ratty sleeveless t-shirt, baggy sweatpants, and fluffy pink socks (don’t look at me like that, they were a gift from my grandma) and tried my best to look like I _wasn’t_ just about to plant one on Astra “am I interrupting?” Hank asked, his voice just dripping with sarcasm

“No, sir” I answered, pleased that my voice didn’t crack like a teenage boy hitting puberty 

“Then, could I speak to you alone” it wasn’t a question, I nodded quietly and shuffled out into the hall _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Once we were out in the hall, Hank turned to me 

“Do you trust her?” he asked immediately, I nodded 

“I do” 

“Can I trust you not to let this…attraction cloud your judgment?” I nodded again 

“Yes, except…” 

“Except, what, Alex?” I took a breath 

“Except, it’s not…just an…attraction” I explained, Hank scowled 

“Alex!” he snarled 

“Look! I didn’t _choose_ to fall in love with her, OK?! It just happened!!” I snapped, I took a breath, yelling at my boss was not a good thing “I didn’t choose to fall for her,” I repeated “but, she didn’t choose to fall for me, either” 

“Are you sure?” Hank asked, I knew what he was asking, were Astra’s feelings real or was it all just some plot 

“I’m sure,” I said “she saved my life today, Hank, she killed Non because he took me, she _loves_ me, and I love her” I found it funny that could tell everyone else _except_ Astra that I loved her. Hank sighed 

“All right,” he said at last “she’ll remain your responsibility,” he nodded towards the iso lab “c’mon, let’s give her the good news” he grumbled. Walking back into the iso lab, we found Astra still sitting on the edge of the bed, ideally swinging her legs like a little kid 

“Is everything all right?” she asked, looking up as we walked in, I nodded 

“Everything’s fine” I explained as Hank cleared his throat to get Astra’s attention 

“General, I’ve just spoken to your niece, and she’s convinced me that it wouldn’t be fair to you to keep detained here at the DEO,” he explained, I huffed out a sigh of relief “however,” Hank continued “we can’t just let you roam around unchecked,” he held up what looked like an ankle monitor “this will allow us to monitor your location,” he explained “now, your niece has convinced me not to use kryptonite, so it won’t dampen or remove your powers, but you are to keep this on until you’ve proven that we can fully trust you, agreed?” 

“Agreed” Astra said simply, once again, just like back in Command with General Lane, I couldn’t read her. Hank nodded at me 

“Agent Danvers” I nodded back slowly and took the ankle bracelet from him and quickly bent down to snap it onto Astra’s right ankle 

“Sorry” I muttered, avoiding her gaze 

“It’s all right,” she told me “believe me when I say, this far better treatment than I excepted” she explained, I stamped down a shiver as I flashed back to her description of Fort Rozz as I adjusted the bracelet 

“Is it too tight?” I asked “too loose?” 

“Its fine,” she told me, she looked up at Hank “am I to assume this means that I can leave this facility?” she asked, Hank nodded 

“You can,” he answered “but you’re to remain with either Agent Danvers or Supergirl for the time being, meaning that one of them is going to have you as their roommate,” he explained “although,” he added with a smirk “somehow, I get the feeling that won’t be much of a punishment for you” he grumbled 

“No,” Astra purred “it won’t” she chuckled, Hank suddenly stepped forward, walking towards Astra with a slow, dangerous air 

“On a more…personal note, General,” he added quietly “the second you hurt them,” he glanced at me “either of them…” 

“The second I hurt either of them, Martian,” Astra purred “I will gladly save you the trouble of having to execute me” Hank slowly nodded 

“I’m glad that we understand each other,” he said, he stepped back and nodded at me “Agent Danvers, you can take charge of the General now” he said, with that he promptly walked out of the room 

“He cares for you,” Astra commented once we were alone again “for you and Kara” she added, I nodded 

“Yeah, he does, doesn’t he?” I glanced at her “do you want to get out of here? Maybe get that dinner you were talking about?” Astra smiled shyly again and held out her hand to me 

“It’s a date” she said softly  



	8. Pizza

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex takes Astra home with her, where they have pizza and talk. Finished

No, words are a language that doesn’t deserve such treatment  
That all of my stumbling phrases never amounted to anything worth this feeling

All this heaven never could describe such a feeling as I’m here

Words were never so useful ‘til I was screaming out a language that I never knew existed before  
\--Florence + the Machine “All This And Heaven Too”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

Once I signed Astra out, I stayed true to my word and took her back to my place, ignoring the stares from my neighbors as I walked down the hall in an old t-shirt, baggy sweat pants and fuzzy pink socks with a woman in a black catsuit beside me

“I forgot to ask, how are your powers doing?” I asked as Astra and I walked towards my apartment

“Fine,” she answered “Dr. Hamilton seems to think they’ll return in a few days time, possibly less” she explained, I nodded

“Good” I stropped short at the sight of a sticky note on my door, written in Kara’s loopy handwriting

“Is something wrong?” Astra asked, I chuckled and held up the note

 _“Alex, had the window fixed, you can pay my back in takeout. Love Kara. P.S. Give Astra a hug for me and spare me the details,”_ I read, Astra chuckled “c’mon,” I nodded towards the door as I opened it. Once we were inside, Astra plopped down my couch, stretching out across it with an air of ‘this is mine now’, and I found that I didn’t mind having her taking over my couch “you want something to drink?” I asked as I opened the fridge “uh, I’ve got…beer…milk, and…beer,” I grimaced at my lack of food, even though I knew I had had more originally, and I also knew who was responsible, one of them was sitting on my couch “oy, you two ate me out of house and home last night,” I grumbled, I closed the fridge and looked up at Astra “I guess it’ll have to be pizza after all” I said, Astra frowned as she slowly sat up 

“That’s the…round flat dough with toppings, correct?” she asked, if she knew what it was but just wanted to be sure, I nodded

“Yep,” I answered, digging out my little mountain of takeout menus, I practically live on takeout “Kara loves the stuff; she’d eat like two of them in one sitting if I let her. Maybe even three” I explained as I found the right menu and called in an order for a large with all the fixings. After getting the usual ‘fifteen minutes to an hour’ time frame for the delivery, I hung up and sat down on the couch, automatically snuggling up to Astra, it was scary, how…easy it felt to be around her, I never cuddle on the first date (who does?), but with Astra, it just felt…right, natural even

“Was she happy?” she asked suddenly

“Who?” I asked, sitting up, Astra bit her lip and looked away

“Kara…,” she explained “you speak so…intimately about her,” she added “so, I’m curious to know if…” she trailed off. I frowned as I thought about it

“I…think so,” I finally answered slowly “at first she was sad, of course, but, slowly, after a few weeks or so, she perked up” I explained, Astra nodded

“So, she was…,” she trailed off and scowled “I apologize,” she sighed, shaking her head “I know we are meant to discuss each other on a ‘first date’” she explained

“I don’t mind,” I told her, I reached out and rested my hand on her knee, she jerked a bit, but kept still “hey,” I said gently “look, just forget everything you may have heard or read about dating, OK? All that matters is that we’re comfortable with each other, if you want to talk about Kara, we can talk about Kara,” I explained, Astra smiled then, it was beautiful, radiant, and just a little bit mischievous, and I suddenly saw how Astra was Kara’s favorite aunt growing up, Astra had probably let her do all the things her mother didn’t want her to do, and I suddenly had an idea “wait here,” I said as I got up and hurried over to my bookcase, pulling the really big photo album off the shelf and hauling it back over to the couch “here,” I unceremoniously dropped the book onto Astra’s lap (my coffee table was still in several pieces on the floor, apparently Kara thought fixing the window was more important). Astra looked offended as the album dropped onto her lap, but said nothing as I opened the album to the first photo, a picture of all of us, at least a few months before my dad got blackmailed by Hank Henshaw, the real Hank Hensahw, into joining the DEO “there we are” I said. For a long moment Astra was silent, I watched her as she just gently traced her fingers over the picture, as if she was afraid that it might suddenly dissolve if she touched it too hard

“You both look happy” she finally said, I nodded

“Yeah, we were,” I said softly “but, I wasn’t the best sister at first” I explained, Astra looked up at me, frowning

“How so?” I sighed

“I suppose I resented her at first,” I began “I mean, before she came I was the star, all my parents attention was for me, and then, all of a sudden, here’s this kid, this weird kid, who follows me around like a lost puppy asking all sorts of stupid questions, and she has all these powers, she can do things I can’t, she literally can touch the stars,” I shook my head as I remembered “her first day at school, she was overwhelmed by all the new sounds, and I wasn’t as sympathetic as I could’ve been, I was more concerned with fitting in. That same day, after school, some my so-called ‘friends’ had invited us, well me really, down to the beach, and as we’re standing there, I noticed that Kara kept staring up at the seagulls, she told me that they didn’t have birds ‘where she came from’, and I was just _so_ embarrassed by this weird foster kid that my parents took in, who my parents told me to treat like my sister,” I chuckled, back then as a fourteen year old it had been embarrassing, now it just looked silly “of course,” I added “Kara never saw that I was annoyed at her or even resented her, to her, I was her sister” Astra slowly nodded

“Sisters are like that, I suppose,” she said quietly, staring off into space “no matter how much you get angry at them, no matter how much you yell at them, how much you resent them, hate them even, they still care for you, still try to help you, still… _love_ , you”

“Tell me,” I encouraged quietly “about Alura” Astra frowned and I was about to tell her to never mind when she suddenly spoke

“We had…similar experiences as children” she began

“Astra, you don’t have to tell me, if you don’t want to” I told her, she shook her head

“No, its fine,” she said “I want to, I _need_ to, I think. Do you remember what I said about Non and I being second born?” I nodded slowly

“Vaguely” I said

“By that point in Krypton’s history, our society had begun artificial population control,” Astra began “very few children were born naturally by that time, most of us—myself and Alura included—were born from artificial wombs through a device called the ‘Codex’, genetically altered from conception to fulfill our place in society as an artist, a scientist, a warrior, and so on, engineered to be as close to biologically ‘perfect’ as we could be. By the time that Alura and I were born, twins were virtually non-existent; identical twins even more so. After all, in a society of ‘perfect’ people, what use were two copies of the same thing when only one would suffice?” she chuckled humorously “because of this fact, our very existence was seen as scandalous, a fault in our ‘perfect’ society, proof that no matter how hard we had tried we couldn’t fully conquer nature. We were both teased constantly by the other children because of this, ’why do you look the same?’, ‘do you start talking to your reflection in mirror because you think its her?’, ‘your parents must be so ashamed’, and so on” she chuckled bitterly, I nodded quietly

“And because you were, ‘second born’ was it? You got the brunt of it” I realized, she nodded

“Out of the two of us, Alura was the better student, the better artist, the better _everything_ , whereas I was merely ‘average’, and in a society where everyone was expected to excel at everything, that was unacceptable,” she took a breath before continuing “I was always in her shadow,” she explained “everything I did was compared against Alura’s accomplishments or achievements, ‘hear how prettily Alura sings, why can’t you sing like that, Astra?’,” she mocked, she shook her head “no matter how hard I tried, I was never my own person, I was always ‘Alura’s sister’ or even worse, ‘the twin’. When we young, we enjoyed the fact that people often got us confused, we made a game of it, we switched seats, we switched tests, tricking our parents, our teachers, we were the only twins in existence as far as we knew, but…as time went by and we grew older, I wanted to be more than just ‘Alura’s sister’, to be more than just ‘the twin’”

“The white streak” I realized, she nodded softly as she absently reached up and fingered that lock of white hair

"She never faulted me, however, that is something I will always remember and something that I ask that you keep in mind, Alexandra,” she told me “no matter how hurtful or insulting the other children were, no matter how critical our parents were, Alura never believed it, any of it, she never saw me as anything other than her sister, her best friend,” she chuckled suddenly “at times, she was even my defender” she added, I laughed

“Really?” I asked “I just can’t…” Astra nodded, smiling softly

“Yes, I know you probably thought that the reverse was true,” she said “that I was the one who got into fights,” she continued, shaking her head “and I’m certain that Kara told you how virtuous and upstanding and respectable her mother was, which is true, but when we younger, it was always Alura who was getting into trouble in that regard, she was the one who was always brawling with the other children, not I,” she chuckled “one time, she even punched another boy hard enough to break his nose after he’d pushed me into the mud and called me a ‘freak’, and another time she actually bit a girl who pulled my hair”

“Didn’t she get into trouble with your parents?” I asked, remembering my own share of fistfights when I was protecting Kara from bullies as a kid and my mother’s disproval as a result, Astra shook her head

“No,” she said “because, in my parents eyes, Alura could do no wrong, every time she got into a fight on my behalf my parents always assumed that I was to blame and that Alura was merely trying to protect me from punishment,” she sighed “and,” she said slowly “I fear that I have ruined this ‘date’ of ours” she said sadly, I shook my head, reaching out to cup her cheek

“No you haven’t,” I told her “all this means is that now I’ll have to tell you embarrassing stories from Kara’s childhood” Astra stared at me, looking startled, and then she laughed, reaching out and pulling me into a chaste kiss

“I would like nothing more, my brave one,” she said just as there was a knock on the door, I watched as Astra looked up, squinting at the door “it’s a young woman holding a large flat…box?” she frowned

“Oh, that’s the pizza” I realized  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After paying the delivery girl, I brought the box back over to couch, where we both happily dove into the pizza. Turns out, Astra’s had pizza before, I was a little pissed actually, there was a selfish, childish part of me that wanted to see if she liked it as much as Kara did when she had her first piece, but it didn’t really matter, I was just enjoying the time we were spending together swapping stories, some of ourselves, some of Kara, some embarrassing, some not

“How did we get here?” Astra murmured sometime later after we’d both devoured the pizza. I lifted my head from where I’d pillowed myself against her midsection

“What’d you mean?” I asked, Astra shook her head

“Here,” she repeated “from enemies to…this?” I sat up

“Are you complaining?” I asked, she shook her head

“No, not in the slightest, it’s just…surprising”

“Hey, it’s surprising for me too, you know,” I reminded her “I’m sitting on my couch cuddling with my sister’s aunt” Astra grimaced

“Please, don’t refer to us as Kara’s ‘aunt’ and ‘sister’ in the same sentence”

“Right,” I nodded, I snuggled deeper against Astra “let’s just…take it one step at a time,” I said “just…ease ourselves into this, don’t bother worrying about the future, just about this moment, right here, right now,” I looked up at her “does that make sense?” I asked, she grinned

“It makes perfect sense,” she said softly, pressing a kiss to the top of my head “you’re tired,” she commented as I bit back a yawn “you’ve had quite a day,” she added, she pulled me up so that I was laying against her completely, my head resting in the crook of her neck “go to sleep” she said softly, gently running her fingers through my hair  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

I jerked awake; not exactly sure what woke me. Taking in my surroundings, I found it was dark, it was late I knew, probably past midnight, I was in my bed, I could feel someone curled up against me, spooning me from behind, strong arms wrapped around me, holding me tight, one arm around my waist, the other pressed under me, a hand over my heart. I felt a gentle kiss being pressed to my shoulder, and then I heard a familiar voice whisper

“Go back to sleep” I slowly rolled over to see Astra curled up behind me. The moonlight coming from the window made her hair look as dark as night, while her skin had a ghostly pale glow, accented by the white streak in her hair. In that moment, she looked almost ethereal, dark and seductive, like something out of an old Gothic novel. She smiled softly as she cupped my cheek and gently brushed her lips against mine, and in that moment, as I felt myself drift off again with Astra’s arms around me, I’ve never felt so alive

**END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TA-DA!! The end of part two of What we are, part three is already in the works, I thank you all for your kind comments to a novice and hope you stay with me for more of my work


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